"Xavier Hernández i Creus" (; born 25 January 1980 in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia), commonly known as "Xavi", is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for Spanish La Liga club Barcelona. Widely considered among the finest playmakers in world football, Xavi was named the official Man of the Match of the 2009 Champions League Final as he helped Barcelona defeat Manchester United to win their third European Cup. He was named Best Player by UEFA at Euro 2008
and was one of the five finalists for the 2007-08 FIFA World Player of the Year. In all he has been capped 80 times for the Spanish national team and has played for his country in the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Club career
Xavi is a product of Barcelona's youth system and has spent all of his footballing life at the Camp Nou since the age of 11. He quickly made his way through the youth and reserve teams and was a key member of Jordi Gonzalvo's Barcelona B team that won promotion to the Segunda División.
His progression through the teams earned him a first team debut on 18 August 1998 in the Super Cup final, in which he scored against Mallorca. He quickly went on to become a key member of Louis van Gaal's title winning team.
Xavi is considered the successor of Josep Guardiola in the Barça engine room and after Guardiola left the club, Xavi became the chief playmaker in the side. Since the title-winning season of 2004-05, he has been a vice-captain of the team. In the 2005-06 season, Xavi tore the ligaments in his left knee in training; he was out of action for five months, missing the majority of the playing season, but returned in April and was on the substitutes bench for the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.
The 2008-09 season was Xavi's best season so far, by performances and achievements. He was a main part of Barcelona's treble, performing with excellence in all three competitions:
He scored the 4th goal in the 4-1 win in the Copa del Rey 2008-09 final against Athletic Bilbao , with a free kick.
In La Liga, among many fine performances, perhaps the most significant one is the 6-2 El Clásico victory vs Real Madrid on May 2nd. He assisted 4 out of 6 goals (once to Puyol, once to Henry and twice to Messi), and this performance and this win definitively led to Barcelona winning the 2009 title.
Finally, Xavi helped Barcelona win the 2009 Champions League Final versus Manchester United, which ended 2-0, assisting the second goal by raising the ball to Leo Messi's header after 69 minutes and also nearly scored as his shot from just outside the penalty box hit the post. Xavi was recently voted 'UEFA Champions League best midfielder' for his contribution during Barcelona's victorious 2008-09 UEFA Champions League campaign.
Xavi is under contract to Barça until 2014 after extending his contract during the 2008-09 season. The new contract will make him one of the club's biggest earners, and entitle him to ?7.5 million a year.
Xavi equalled Carles Rexach in the all-time appearances list for Barcelona when he made his 452th appearance in his 11th season at the club on 14 February 2009. He is now second only to Migueli, who made 548 appearances.
International career
Xavi was first called up for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, scoring two goals as Spain won the trophy. He made his senior debut on 15 November 2000 against the Netherlands and has since been a regular fixture in the Spanish squad. His trip to the 2006 FIFA World Cup was in doubt due to a knee ligament injury, but he recovered in time and was named as part of Luis Aragonés' squad. His importance to the team was summed up by Aragonés when he said, "People say it is a gamble to take Xavi with us, but I say it would be a crazy gamble to leave him at home." Xavi was named Man of the Match in Spain's match against Ukraine and played in all of Spain's other three matches, before they were knocked out by the experienced French team in the second round.
During UEFA Euro 2008, Xavi played a vital role in Spain's successful campaign. Partnering with fellow Barça teammate Andrés Iniesta in the midfield, he was the fulcrum between the defense and the forward line regularly supplying the strikers with vital passes and crucial assists. He scored the opening goal in the 50th minute in the semi-final against Russia which was the 500th goal ever scored in the European Championships. In the final against Germany, he slid a well-timed pass to Fernando Torres who slotted in the winning goal. He was selected as the Player of the Tournament by UEFA officials.
Xavi was called up again for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers by the new manager Vicente del Bosque and continued his good form from Euro 2008. In their 3-0 win over Estonia, two of the goals were scored from his free kicks. He was selected in the 23-man squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and started all three of Spain's group games.
All-time club statistics
As of 24 November 2009
Honours and awards
Barcelona
"La Liga (4):" 1998-99, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09
"Copa del Rey (1):" 2008-09
"UEFA Champions League (2):" 2005-06, 2008-09
"Supercopa de España (3):" 2005, 2006, 2009
"UEFA Super Cup (1):" 2009
Spain U20
FIFA U-20 World Cup : 1999
Spain U23
Olympic Games: 2000 Silver Medal
Spain
UEFA European Football Championship: 2008
Individual
Don Balón Award for Breakthrough Player of the Year : 1999
Don Balón Award for Spanish Player of the Year in La Liga: 2005
Euro 2008 Player of the Tournament
FIFPro World XI : 2007-08
IFFHS World's best playmaker: 2008
UEFA Team of the Year: 2008, 2009
FIFA.com Team of the Year: 2008
UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Top assister
UEFA Club Best Midfielder: 2008-09
LFP Best Midfielder 2008-09
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